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Curt Hawkins was in the ring and said last week, Big Show stepped into the ring with him and now he's in a main event. He said if you step in the ring with him, you become a main eventer. He also had a clever Xavier's School for the Gifted. He called someone out. Out came Finn Balor. Looks like someone may have passed his Impact test today.
Finn Balor vs. Curt Hawkins
Hawkins missed a right hand and was nailed with several chops and a Slingblade. Hawkins was sent into the corner with a dropkick. Balor hit the top rope double stomp and scored the pin.
Your winner, Finn Balor!
Short match where Hawkins pinballed all over to make Balor look strong and strong he did. Balor didn't take any bumps except the dropkick.
They showed Dule Hill, a big wrestling fan, at ringside to preview the WWE Studios film Sleight.
Backstage, Chris Jericho was being interviewed. He admitted he lost to Samoa Joe but said he was sidetracked by his Payback match against Kevin Owens. He said Owens called himself the face of America. Jericho said that Owens is a pretty ugly guy and America deserves better. They deserve the face of America. Jericho said that if he wins, he has to go to Smackdown live. Jericho riled up the fans to chant for him. Jericho thought Mike Rome was Tom Phillips and when Rome tried to correct him, Jericho was going to put him on the List, but Elias Samson walked through the promo, so he ended up on the List instead. Good promo.
They did a spooky Bray Wyatt promo with all sorts of clips as Bray asked what you were afraid of. Bray said fear brings everyone together but he is not like them and doesn't bow down to fear. Fear lives within his house. He said he could smell the fear on Randy Orton and promised that in his House of Horrors, all of Randy's fears will come to life. He promised all sorts of terrible things would happen to Orton. He promised Randy would know fear and horror. He said that Orton's fear and pain would push Bray harder. He said his House of Horrors would forever be Randy's nightmare and when Bray leaves it, he will leave alone. He said that before he goes, he will burn it to the ground with Randy inside. He invited Randy to join him in the "fire where it all began." Good promo.
Alicia Fox was showing Dana Brooke what happened to her last week on 205 Live with the powder exploding in her face. Emma showed up and sowed the seeds of an issue between them by claiming Dana was making a joke about what happened to Fox. Fox got mad and stormed off, saying they were no longer friends. Dana told Emma what she said was a lie. Emma told her she wanted to stand on her own two feet so "let's see how your balance is." As a way to build the Emma vs. Dana deal, it was fine.
WWE Raw Tag Team champion Jeff Hardy with Matt Hardy vs. Cesaro with Sheamus
They locked up and Cesaro used his power to keep Hardy off balance early. Hardy made it to his face and Cesaro backed off. Hardy grabbed a side headlock but was shoved off. Hardy kicked off Cesaro and sent him to the floor. Jeff nailed a kick through the ropes and then hit a dive off the apron onto Cesaro on the floor. Cesaro was tossed back in the ring for a two count.
Cesaro caught Jeff in mid-air and slammed him. Jeff went to the floor, limping. Cesaro charged around the ring and caught him with a running uppercut. That looked great. He covered Jeff for a two count. They went to commercial.
They returned with Cesar working over Hardy and scoring several two counts. Hardy made a comeback with a clothesline and an inverted atomic drop. Hardy scored a two count. Cesaro cut him off and nailed a springboard into a flying uppercut for a two count. He set up for the big swing but Hardy tried to maneuver out of it and drilled Cesaro. Jeff went for the swanton but was caught with an uppercut while on the top.
Cesaro climbed the ropes and went for a superplex. Jeff blocked it and sent Cesaro to the ropes. He crotched himself after almost crashing down in a scary way. Jeff dropkicked him from the top, sending Cesaro off the ropes to the floor. Cesaro was nailed with a twisting moonsault off the top for a two count. Cesaro was dropkicked in the corner.
Cesaro cut off Jeff and went for the Neutralizer. Hardy backdropped him and hit the Twist of Fate. Jeff went to the top for the swanton bomb and scored the pin.
Your winner, Jeff Hardy!
Good back and forth athletic bout. Jeff seemed to be a step off as they got later into the bout, so I wonder if one of the uppercuts caught him a little hard.
They showed the footage of the Braun vs. Show.
Backstage, Heath Slater and Rhyno were talking about being on Raw when a pissed off Braun walked past them and spooked them. They showed Show walking through the back.
Big Show vs. Braun Strowman
They brawled at ringside before the bell. Strowman was nailed with several punches and sent into the ring steps.
They entered the ring and the bell officially rang. Show sent him to the floor and hit a sliding kick. Wow. He sends Strowman into the barricade. When Strowman returned, he hit a dropkick for a two count. They went back and forth working over each other's arms. Braun whipped out an armdrag and even did a kipup. Wow. That's pretty damn impressive. Even more impressive is that one of the armdrags almost killed Show. Whew, that was close.
Braun nailed another armdrag. He went to slam Show but Show blocked him. They each tried to slam the other but couldn't get the advantage. Braun took control and drilled Show with kicks. He walked over Show's chest, posing. He continued to work over Show with a right hand to the jaw. Show was picked up for the slam but slipped behind him and shoved him into the corner. Show then charged with a splash in the corner.
Show placed Braun on the top rope for a superplex attempt but was shoved off. Braun leapt off but was grabbed for a chokeslam and covered for a two count. Show went for the KO but Strowman ducked and sideslammed him for a two count. Show came back and they battled to the ropes. This time, Show teased a superplex but Strowman countered. Show was crotched on the top and stumbled back into the ring, hurting.
Strowman took some time to recover on the top and came off the top but was nailed with KO punch in mid-air but still kicked out at the last second. This is fun stuff. Show wondered what to do next and went to the top but Strowman caught him and again went to top for the superplex and they DESTROYED THE RING, which collapsed with ref Jon Cone taking a bump to the floor and everything, even the ring steps bouncing.
As everyone scrambled to check on Show and Braun, Braun recovered and stood up, strong and dominant, screaming at the crowd. Show was out and never recovered. The story was that Braun was such a tough SOB that not even the complete decimation of the ring could phase him. They did a hell of a job making him look like a beast and this was a great main event, even with the obvious lack of a conclusive finish.
I legitimately enjoyed the hell out of this Raw tonight. Some really good wrestling in every hour, not a lot of lengthy or bloated talking segments and an overall nice flow to the show.
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